Mayhem Miller vs. Team Caesar Gracie

[INDYjon22]

Tonight at Strikeforce: Shields vs. Henderson we saw Jake Shields dominate a legend in route to arguably naming himself the number two Middleweight in the world. But, what happened after the fight was much more interesting the what happened during the fight. During Shields after fight interview Jason Miller made his way into the cage and made some comments towards Shields and a rematch. What appeared to be a friendly jest turned into an all out brawl as training partners of Jake Shields proceeded to push and then dog pile Miller. There were punches thrown, people shoved and a lot of dirty words exchanged. By the end of the ordeal three of Strikeforces five champions had taken some sort of shot at Miller. Two questions popped into my head quickly.

A) How will this brawl effect MMA and
B) What is next for Jason Miller.

The event itself did not bother me, it just took me by surprise. I thought Miller was just screwing around by the manner of which he was talking and the way Shields initially reacted. It seemed friendly. However, obviously Gilbert Melendez and Nick Diaz found something wrong and a fight broke out. Even Shields threw a short punch that could have gone undetected. I thought Jason Miller's overall choice to jump in the cage during Shield's big moment was unnecessary and rude but did not warrant a brawl. I also find it interesting that Shields seems to be not liked by the fans and he seems to further that motion when he shoves and throws punches post fight. The fight didn't surprise me seeing all the egos in one cage and knowing it was a sport and fights happen sometimes. I found the brawl to be a little rash, however, and something that could hurt MMA. At the very least the MMA haters will be out in droves claiming MMA to be human cock fighting more then ever. I think this brawl was worse then the Cabbage/Tank fight a few years back but it shouldn't have a huge impact.

Second, I think Strikeforce has a nice little storyline now. Jason Miller versus the Caesar Gracie team. Now, I don't see him fighting Gilbert Melendez anytime soon considering the weight difference. However, I think Strikeforce should setup a Jason Miller/Nick Diaz fight as soon as possible. Nick Diaz appeared to be throwing the most punches at Miller and this fight makes sense. Make it for the title since there are no legit contenders for it yet. Strikeforce will have to guys with a ton of heat between them and who can talk a fight up. If Jason Miller can win Strikeforce should setup Miller/Shields 2. Once again, there is obviously bad blood between the two or at least Miller and the camp. Miller and Shields 1 was an awesome fight and a rematch with such heat between it could be a huge draw.

So, how do you feel about the outcome of this brawl? Does it hurt MMA and how much? Do you think Strikeforce should setup some fights between Jason Miller and the fighters out of Caesar Gracie? Will anyone actually respond to this thread?

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Everyone in the ring came off looking like an idiot.

1.) Mayhem is an idiot, and even though I'm sure he intended the situation to come off as being playful and to say he wanted his rematch... there's a time and place for that and after possibly the biggest moment in the career of Jake Shields, that wasn't the time for it. The UFC never would have allowed that to happen to begin with. There's a method to Dana White's madness. Without a strong authoritative figure at the head of the promotion, the inmates are running the asylum. When Rampage and Rashad and Mir and Lesnar got into it after fights (from when Lesnar beat Couture), it never got to the point where it came to fisticuffs. It made Strikeforce come off as being real bushleague. That being said, we have no idea what's going on behind the scenes with Shields and Mayhem. I do remember them getting into a flamewar with each other over Twitter after their fight, and there's obviously some bad blood there still. Maybe Mayhem was talking shit to Shields all week, especially when he's on Team Quest with Hendo. Who knows?

2.) This is exactly why I don't like the Diaz brothers. They go ahead and pull bullshit like this. Unclassy and always looking for a fight, there was a rumored situation where Nick Diaz was staring down Shinya Aoki in an elevator the other day. I can only imagine the awkwardness.

3.) Shields should have taken the high road and tried to break things up instead of letting things get to that point and possibly even contributing to the madness.

4.) Gus Johnson pleading for the madness to stop by yelling, "We're on national television!" followed by him saying that "Things like this happen sometimes in MMA"... no, it doesn't! Name one situation where a full-blown streetfight took place at an MMA event, please.

5.) CBS and their affiliates have to be bullshit. Not only did it overrun 45 minutes, and each fight was apparently boring, but that whole situation really must have left a bad taste in CBS' mouth. Strikeforce will never get another network show, and they don't deserve it.

I think the more intriguing question here is what happens to Jake Shields now? He's officially a free agent, and he's still the Strikeforce Middleweight Champion. After the disrespect Strikeforce gave him, pushing Hendo over him in the ads, despite being champion, and seemingly being fed to Hendo, he just bought himself a whole lot of leverage (and a nice raise) last night. He's a natural Welterweight, and you know he wants to go back down. He now has to decide if he wants to stay on with Strikeforce as their champion, and fighting Mayhem again (after which point, what does he do after?), or does he take on a new challenge by going to the UFC? I think you could really make a case for him being the default #1 contender to GSP if he goes to the UFC and goes back down to Welterweight. If he stays at Middleweight, he'll probably take on Vitor Belfort to decide the #1 contender after Sonnen and Silva fight.

As far as Mayhem goes, if Shields does leave the company, then they should absolutely do a catchweight fight between Mayhem and Nick Diaz (that is if he doesn't get suspended). I really want to know what happens with the Middleweight Title if Shields does make the jump to the UFC. Hendo and Mayhem train together, they won't fight each other. I honestly off the top of my head, can't think of any other Middleweights in Strikeforce.

The only effect this brawl will have on MMA is distinguishing the UFC as the true class of MMA, and with last night's abomination, Strikeforce truly is the TNA of the MMA world. In between bringing in high-profile free agents and spending a lot of money on them (with very little return), to sideshow acts like Herschel Walker and a rumored Jose Canseco fight, to the women's division possibly bringing the most exciting/interesting fights to the company, to not making enough in revenue to justify the Hendo and Fedor contracts (because they can't run PPV, I'm sure Showtime doesn't give them too much, they have difficulty selling their shows out, and I think you can consider CBS a lost cause at this point)... you have to wonder how much Strikeforce will be able to sustain themselves, much like TNA.

Dana White has to be feeling great right now. After his low point last Saturday, he's gotta be feeling much better after last night. It goes to show how the UFC is truly the class of the MMA world.

Edit: Also, on the subject of pro wrestling comparisons to MMA, I just realized that the Diaz Brothers are really just real-life versions of The Briscoe Brothers.

 

[jmt225]

4.) Gus Johnson pleading for the madness to stop by yelling, "We're on national television!" followed by him saying that "Things like this happen sometimes in MMA"... no, it doesn't! Name one situation where a full-blown streetfight took place at an MMA event, please.

Lol... have you already forgotten the Diaz Bros vs. Noons and his daddy? I think Gus meant to say, "Things like this happen sometimes when the Diaz Brothers are in the building!"

Anyways, I fucking love all the parties involved... Diaz Bros, Mayhem, and Jake Shields. Because of that, I won't cast any of the blame on them. Nope, I'll cast it on Gilbert Melendez, since I only like him, lol.

Seriously though, nothing would have happened if Melendez didn't throw the first push. He was the one who started it all, bottom line. Mayhem, yeah it was disrespectful... but no more disrespectful than GSP telling Matt Hughes that he wasn't impressed by his performance right after Hughes got done winning a fight. Mayhem was just hyping for a rematch, one he rightfully deserves I might add. Mayhem put up a much better fight against Shields than Hendo did, and I would dare to say Shields got very lucky he won that fight.

Diaz Bros and Shields... look, they were just protecting their friends/training partners. It's a natural male instinct to protect your friends, especially when you consider that they were already in a cage full of fighters.

So, yeah... Melendez is the only one truly at fault, in my opinion. However, he or no one else should be suspended. Nobody was seriously hurt, and I highly doubt Strikeforce loses their deal with CBS because of this. And even if they did, that wouldn't be as big of deal as a lot would imagine.

Anyway, what now.... well, Shields belongs in the UFC. He's the one guy I would say right now who could defeat Anderson Silva at Middleweight. Not sure if he can beat GSP, but he definitely has the PERFECT style to beat Silva, without question.

Mayhem... I think him vs. Lawler is set for June. However, if Shields does sign with the UFC, then that leaves the Middleweight Title vacant. If I were Strikeforce, I would pit a Diaz vs. Mayhem fight for that Title. Seriously, how awesome would that fight be, especially over a title?

However, if Shields stays in Strikeforce, then give us Mayhem vs. Shields. Simple.

But yeah... I don't think it's as big of a deal as people are making it out to be. Seriously, if it hadn't happened last night, the show wouldn't be getting near the discussion and press it is, because honestly... it was a fucking boring ass show until that happened. So, while I would admit that Dana and UFC do come out looking the best in the situation after last night, I still don't think Strikeforce is in the least bit of trouble.